Athletic Brewing offers non-alcoholic craft options

Wednesday

Options for non-alcoholic beers in the U.S. have always been relatively limited – mostly poor imitations of mass-produced lagers.

Athletic Brewing Company is hoping to change that. The Stratford, Connecticut-based brewery only brews non-alcoholic beers. Co-founder Bill Shufelt assures you - these aren’t the non-alcoholic beers people are used to. These are craft options, including an IPA and a golden ale.

“We’re just looking to make great-tasting alcohol for the modern person,” said Shufelt. “It’s crazy there hasn’t been a new entry in the non-alcohol space since the 1980s.”

Shufelt said he used to be a big craft beer drinker, attending college in Vermont. But, as he got older, he realized that although he still liked beer, alcohol did not fit into his life style. He said he discovered, much to his chagrin, non-alcoholic beer options were limited.

He left his job in finance and began working on a business plan to open a non-alcoholic only taproom. First up, was finding a brewer. He found John Walker, a brewer at Second Street Brewery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the pair worked to develop quality non-alcoholic beers. Shufelt said the pair brewed more than 100 test batches before opening the taproom in 2017.

“The stigma in the U.S. for non-alcoholic beers is really big,” said Shufelt. “That doesn’t really exist in other countries. If you go to many European countries, they will have 10 or 15 non-alcoholic breweries brewing all different styles.”

Athletic Brewing Company came to the Boston market last week, partnering with Night Shift Distributing in Everett to distribute their beers. The first two canned beers available in Massachusetts are Upside Dawn, a golden ale, and Run Wild, an IPA.

Shufelt said he thinks Athletic beers can find a niche with people who used to drink craft beer but had to stop for various reasons, as well as those who might want to go out, but don’t want to drink too much to drive. He said people can use Athletic beers as “pacer” beers — beers they drink between other beers to cut down the alcohol.

Another aspect is the low calories. Unlike a lot of craft beers, which start around 180 calories and often are much more, Athletic’s beers are low in calories. Upside Dawn is 50 calories while Run Wild is 70 calories. A stout will soon be introduced to the market.

As for taste, neither beer is bad. I taste tested both of them against alcoholic beers, and could not pick out which one had alcohol and which one didn’t. Shuflet said the brewery uses a proprietary method to remove all but .5 percent alcohol from their beers.

“There’s no real reason to think this wouldn’t be the next big thing in the craft beer market,” Shufelt said.

Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For beer news and info, follow Norman Miller on Twitter and Instagram @RealBeerNut or on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerBeerNut.